


Building Blocks

by CatWingsAthena



Series: Elemental Powers AU [1]
Category: MacGyver (TV 2016)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Arranged Marriage, Dubiously consensual magical bonding, Except instead of earth air fire water, Gen, It's me so everything is the platonic version, Sort Of, Team as Family, The platonic version, Which I now can't find sorry, elemental powers au, inspired by a tumblr post, it's the elements of the Periodic Table, slow burn found family
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-10
Updated: 2020-01-13
Packaged: 2021-02-27 05:41:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 11,600
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22191988
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CatWingsAthena/pseuds/CatWingsAthena
Summary: Jack Dalton was doing just fine as an unbonded Void mage, thank you very much. His team were a force to be reckoned with already, and besides, Jack had to stay unbonded—for now, anyway. He’d made a promise. Sure, orders were orders, and Patty seemed so sure the kid was the key to catching the enemy who'd evaded their grasp for so long. That didn’t mean Jack had to like it.Angus MacGyver remembered the time before the magic. He’d been a scared kid, running from bullies, wishing for his dad to come home. He’d been nothing. Then, the magic chose him, and everything changed. But he’d always known that, when he turned twenty-one, he’d have to be bonded with someone who could, with a thought, take it all away. Make him nothing again. What was worse, his new partner seemed to hate him. Mac couldn’t imagine he’d have qualms about using his abilities if he stepped out of line. Much as Mac hated to call anything impossible, he couldn’t see a way this was going to go well.Or, the one where, instead of the classical four elements, elemental powers are the elements of the Periodic table.
Relationships: Angus MacGyver & Desiree "Desi" Nguyen, Jack Dalton & Angus MacGyver (MacGyver TV 2016), Jack Dalton & Desiree "Desi" Nguyen, Jack Dalton (MacGyver TV 2016) & Riley Davis, Riley Davis & Angus MacGyver (MacGyver TV 2016), Samantha Cage & Angus MacGyver (MacGyver TV 2016), Samantha Cage & Desiree "Desi" Nguyen, Samantha Cage & Jack Dalton (MacGyver TV 2016)
Series: Elemental Powers AU [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1601146
Comments: 74
Kudos: 99





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [N1ghtshade](https://archiveofourown.org/users/N1ghtshade/gifts).



> Hey everybody! I've been shouting ideas for this with thethistlegirl (N1ghtshade here on AO3) over on Tumblr, so this is for her. Friend, you're awesome and thank you so much, this wouldn't have happened without you. I came up with this idea about a week ago and did NOT expect to get this deep in this fast... I'm still working on it, but hopefully updates will be fairly regular until I go back to school on the 19th, after which no guarantees. Please note that this chapter contains a magical bonding ceremony, kind of similar to marriage although without an expected romantic or sexual component, which neither party really wants to enter into, along with magical limitations on movement, swearing, implied past overuse of authority by a teacher, and general institutionalized poor treatment of certain people in a fantasy setting. Hope you enjoy!

“MacGyver?”

Mac looked up from his notebook and towards the door. Ms. Aven was standing in the doorway to the lecture hall, with a folder in her hand.

_ Shit. _

This couldn’t be happening. Not yet.

“But I’m supposed to have another month,” Mac blurted out before he could stop himself.

Ms. Aven held up her hand, fingertips together. “Do I have to?”

Mac immediately broke eye contact and put his head down. “No, ma’am.”

“Follow me.”

Mac stood up and walked out into the hall, doing his best to ignore the way his classmates’ eyes tracked him as he left.

As soon as they were out of earshot of the classroom, Ms. Aven spoke again.

“The Registry is well aware of the timing of your birthday, but something has come up within the Phoenix branch of the United States Magic Regulation Department, and they requested a full Elemental—the most highly skilled available.” Something in Ms. Aven’s face softened. “I told them that was you.”

“Thank you, ma’am.” Mac said, hating the words as they came out. He knew he had to say it—it was only polite. There weren’t a lot of options—he only knew of one other full Elemental in the school of about 1,600 students, aged twelve to twenty—but that didn’t change the fact that she’d given him a compliment.

Still. He couldn’t help feeling somehow betrayed.

“In fact, I sent them your file, and the director of the field team from the USMRD that reached out to us responded very favorably.”

“I...” Mac didn’t really know what to say to that, but he didn’t have to, since Ms. Aven kept talking.

“Since you’re over eighteen, the fact that you aren’t yet twenty-one is irrelevant. You can still bond, and you can still be placed in positions such as those at the USMRD.”

_ I know the rules, _ Mac thought but didn’t say.

“From what I’ve been told, this is an emergency situation. Your new team will brief you  _ after _ you’ve bonded.” She took a deep breath. “Look. I’m aware that you wanted to wait as long as possible. But you’re attracting attention, and I can’t put this off any longer.”

Mac looked up and nodded. “What’s their name?”

“Jack Dalton.”

...

Jack stared out the window and wondered what the hell he’d gotten himself into.

Sam was driving, Desi was in the passenger’s seat, and he’d somehow ended up in the back,  _ again. _ (Jack blamed his teammates’ Psych Ops training for the fact that he always seemed to end up in the backseat. Nobody,  _ nobody, _ was naturally that good at rock-paper-scissors.)

He knew it was necessary. That didn’t mean he had to like it.

As far as they could determine, the bomber they called The Ghost was a full Elemental. That meant he could control every element on the Periodic Table—an ability possessed by only about one in a thousand Elementals. Most were Partials, controlling only a certain group of elements. And since only about one in a thousand people had magical abilities at all, and only about a third of those were Elementals—full Elementals weren’t something you came across often. Especially not really skillful ones.

Most of the rogue magic users the team chased were partial Elementals, like Sam. Some were Void mages, like Jack and Desi—mages whose only ability was taking away the powers of Elementals—but that was less common. It was harder to do much harm with that.

With a partial Elemental, the job was rarely easy, but it was doable. Figure out which family of elements they controlled, use that to determine what they were likely to do next, get close, use Jack’s or Desi’s powers to subdue them, and bring them in. There were special prisons for Elementals, with Void mage guards and magic baked into the structures to prevent Elemental magic use.

With a full Elemental, it was harder. The team had never run into this problem before, so they weren’t sure how to proceed. They’d been chasing The Ghost for ages, never quite catching up.

So when Patty heard rumors of a powerful full Elemental in California’s Elemental Academy, she’d thought it might take one to catch one.

They had a lead on The Ghost. They had the kid. Just one catch.

It was illegal for Elementals to do much of anything—work, vote, serve in the military, you name it—unless they were bonded to a Void mage.

Like Jack.

Elementals were permitted to bond starting at the age of eighteen and required to do so by their twenty-first birthday. They could find their bondmates on their own or, more commonly, the Academy would arrange them. It was typical for Elementals to stay at the Academy until they bonded.

The kid Patty found was a month shy of twenty-one and hadn’t bonded yet.

A full Elemental, so close to his twenty-first birthday, still unbonded?

What was  _ wrong _ with him?

Besides. Jack  _ couldn’t _ bond.

He’d made a promise.

Years ago, sure. And he was pretty sure the recipient of that promise would spit in his face now if he tried to bring it up. But just in case...

Still. If this was what Patty thought it would take to catch The Ghost, well... he didn’t have much choice.

“Jack, it’s going to be fine,” said Sam, with her usual impeccable timing. “You haven’t even met him yet. Don’t just assume this will be a disaster.”

“I’m not assuming—”

“Please. Your stress hormone levels are through the roof.”

Jack sighed. “I know you can’t help getting a passive read on stuff like that, but it’s still creepy.” Sam’s specialty was Reactive Nonmetals—carbon, oxygen, nitrogen, and the like. She’d trained extensively in both psychology and biochemistry, and as a result had become quite terrifyingly effective at both detecting and altering levels of natural chemicals in people’s bodies. Jack hadn’t liked it one bit at first, but after years of working with Sam, he trusted her implicitly. At this point, calling her abilities “creepy” was just friendly ribbing.

“She’s right, you know,” Desi piped up. “You don’t have to trust him right away—I sure won’t—but if you start off hating him, you’ll just bias him against you. Might create a self-fulfilling prophecy.”

“That’s reassuring,” grumbled Jack.

“Not here to be reassuring,” replied Desi.

“We’re almost there,” said Sam. “Any last words as a free man?”

“Hey!” said Desi, shoving Sam’s shoulder. Sam shoved back.

“Okay, not helping, either of you!” said Jack, glaring at a smirking Sam in the rearview mirror.

“As last words go, points for directness, but there’s room to improve in terms of creativity,” said Desi.

“Cut the man some slack, he’s about to be bonded. Remember how it felt when we did that?”

“Oh damn, don’t remind me.”

Truthfully, despite his fervent desire to remain unbonded (for the time being, at least), Jack sometimes envied Desi and Sam their partnership. Not that there were difficulties in the group dynamic of all three of them—Jack trusted both Desi and Sam with his life, and they trusted him the same way. He’d die for either of them in a heartbeat, and almost had on multiple occasions. In turn, they’d both demonstrated a willingness to do the same for him. They had an easy banter going, that dropped into dead seriousness when it needed to. They functioned seamlessly. But still.

What Desi and Sam had... it was special. It went beyond partnership, went beyond friendship, into what could only be called  _ love, _ real and deep and so intense it was breathtaking to watch sometimes. Jack knew he didn’t have anything like that. Not that he needed it—he cared deeply for his team, and honestly, he’d call what he felt  _ love, _ even though it wasn’t the same—but every now and then, he envied them that.

Just a little.

He knew not all bondmates had a relationship like Desi and Sam. He knew most of them didn’t. He knew the odds were better the closer in age you were when you bonded, and better if you’d chosen your bondmate yourself, or, failing that, had the match arranged on the basis of personality rather than simple convenience.

In other words, everything about this match sucked.

The car pulled into the parking lot.

...

The room was cold.

Mac closed his eyes and reached out, feeling the molecules in the air. Nitrogen, oxygen, argon, a smidgen of carbon dioxide, and water vapor, along with traces of other stuff. Mac focused on the molecules, pushing them to move faster, making them bounce off each other, and him, more rapidly.

The room warmed.

Dammit, if these were his last moments of relative freedom he was going to make full use of them.

Mac tapped his foot and reached out with his mind, looking around the room for something to fidget with. He found a dropped paperclip ( _ iron zinc manganese copper carbon chromium nickel... galvanized low-carbon steel) _ under a cabinet, drew it to his hand, pushed the molecules into quicker motions to warm it up, and started bending it out of shape. (It would be easy enough to bend it with his powers, but that would defeat the purpose. He needed something for his hands to do.)

Mac remembered the time before the magic.

He’d been a scared kid, running from bullies, wishing for his dad to come home. He’d been nothing.

Then, the magic chose him, and everything changed.

But he’d always known that, someday, he’d have to be bonded with someone who could, with a thought, take it all away.

Make him nothing again.

The official walked in.

He was a tall, balding man with a serious expression. “Angus MacGyver?” he said.

Without a word, Mac stood and followed, dropping his paperclip on the floor as he did.

He’d shaped it into handcuffs.

...

When they got inside the courthouse, Jack nodded at Patty, who was waiting there, having taken her own car and, naturally, gotten there first. Then, he gestured at Sam and Desi, then at two of the three doors in the room. He watched the other, wondering who this kid was who he was about to meet.

He’d seen his file. Knew what he looked like, something about his abilities. But he didn’t know anything about him as a person. Not why he hadn’t bonded yet, not whether he’d be any kind of asset in the field.

Sam tapped his shoulder, and he spun around to face her door.

A tall man with a grave expression and not much hair was walking towards them, followed by— _ oh, great. _

The problem wasn’t that the kid was so thin—he looked like he might have a sort of wiry strength, and Jack was familiar enough with Desi and Sam’s fighting to know that looks could be  _ extremely _ deceiving in that department. The problem wasn’t the way his eyes kept darting from place to place, like he wasn’t sure where to look—that could mean any number of things, some of them good.

No, the problem was what Jack saw when Angus MacGyver looked up and met his eyes.

His eyes were bright and intelligent, yes, but they were also  _ scared. _

If Angus was this afraid in a non-life-threatening situation, he’d never make it in the field.

“This was a mistake,” Jack muttered, not caring if Angus heard. “Patty, are you sure about this?”

“ _ Yes, _ Dalton, I’m sure,” she said. “You know we need him.”

“He doesn’t look like he could handle himself in the field, and I am  _ not _ letting you bench me because of some snot-nosed brat who—”

Patty silenced him with a harsh glare and a pointed glance at Angus, who was looking down, ears bright red. Jack felt a slight pang of regret, but it didn’t last long, as Angus looked up and snapped, “I can handle myself just fine,  _ sir _ .” He made the “sir” sound like an insult.

“Oh really? How the fuck would you know—”

“Boys?” said Patty, with ice in her tone, and they both fell silent. “Dalton, I’m not benching you. MacGyver, I trust you’ll be fine in the field. Your record speaks for itself, I am—” she dropped her voice—“particularly impressed by the things you’ve gotten in trouble for. Which is  _ not _ to say I want you getting in trouble here, but it’s evidence you can think outside the box, which we need. So. Shall we get this underway?”

Jack glared at Angus. Angus glared back.

They made their way to the front of the room. Sam squeezed Jack’s shoulder as he passed. The official stood next to them.

“Elemental, state your name,” said the official.

“Angus MacGyver,” said the kid, with a sigh in his tone. Jack couldn’t blame him for not liking his name—it really was a stupid name.

“Void mage, state your name.”

“Jack Dalton.”

“Jack, Angus, take hands.”

They did. Angus’s hands were cool. Nervous as he seemed, they weren’t sweating.

“On the count of three, reach out for the power at the center of the other.”

“Hold up, hold up,” said Jack, ignoring the incredulous look Angus gave him. “Is this like a one-two-three thing, or a one-two-three-go thing?”

The official looked baffled. “Um... I don’t believe it matters.”

Jack turned to Angus, Desi’s words about self-fulfilling prophecies echoing in his ears. He was ninety-nine percent sure this was going to be a complete disaster. But on that one percent chance... “Well? One-two-three, or one-two-three-go?”

Angus looked up. “One-two-three-go,” he said, sounding more confident than he’d seemed earlier.

“All right then. One...”

Angus joined in. “Two... three... go.”

Jack had had occasion to use his power many times before. Usually, when he reached out for an Elemental’s power, it was just for the purpose of shutting it down. This time, though... Angus’s power felt like nothing he’d ever encountered. Radiant and explosive and vibrant and glowing with  _ life. _ It took him a moment to remember how to breathe, knocked backwards by the sheer  _ force _ of it.

Jack looked at Angus, and anything good he’d been feeling vanished in an instant.

The kid was  _ terrified. _ He was putting on a brave face, sure, doing his best to hide it, but years spent with Sam and Desi had done their work and Jack could see right through it. Jack was so focused on wondering what was wrong that he almost missed the official’s next instructions.

_ Now, pull that power into yourself and wrap it around your own. _

It felt wrong. Wrong to do this when the kid so clearly didn’t want to. But orders were orders, rules were rules. Angus couldn’t work until he was bonded, couldn’t do anything really except go to school or stay at home, and besides, they  _ needed _ him, or so Patty seemed to think. If she was right, and this kid really could help them catch The Ghost... well, it would be worth it.

It had to be worth it.

Jack wrapped Angus’s power around his own—he’d never been sure how he’d know what to do when and if the time came, that instruction was so vague, what they didn’t tell you was that it was  _ so easy— _ and felt Angus doing the same.

In what felt like forever and no time at all, it was over.

“You are bonded before the law,” said the official.

Sam and Desi walked up to Jack, standing just close enough to lend silent support.

Angus shut his eyes and took a deep, shaky breath. “May I be excused?”

“You won’t be able to go far,” said the official. “Initial radius—”

“Varies with the relative capabilities of the Void mage and the Elemental and the strength of their relationship, but the average is five hundred feet, I know. May I  _ please _ be excused?” Angus was shaking slightly. He turned to Jack. “May I be excused,  _ sir?” _ This time, it sounded almost sincere.

“Yes, of course. And it’s Jack, you don’t have to bother with the ‘sir’ nonsense.”

Angus nodded, spun on his heels, and walked out of sight as fast as he could without technically running.

Jack sighed and ran a hand over his head.  _ That went well. _


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everybody! This chapter contains continued (and much more detailed) magical restrictions on movement and continued discussions of dubiously consensual magical bonding (blanket warning for those things from here on out). Hope you enjoy!

Mac speedwalked down the halls of the courthouse until his chest started tightening up.

At first, he thought it was just the state of his nerves. But, as it started getting harder and harder to breathe, and the crushing pressure and lancing pain increased with each step he took, he realized this was the limit everyone talked about.

And he couldn’t be more than two hundred feet from Jack at this point. _Wonderful._

Mac kept pushing until he felt on the verge of passing out, then backtracked, feeling the pain and pressure ease as he did so, until he found a men’s bathroom within the habitable zone—a two-hundred-foot-radius circle around Jack.

He ducked into a stall, did a sweep for organic matter on the toilet seat and got rid of the layer of bacteria he found, sat down, and took several deep breaths.

This was even worse than he’d feared.

Jack hated him. He’d seen it as soon as he’d looked him in the eye.

And then...

He’d called him a mistake. A “snot-nosed brat.” Said he couldn’t handle the field.

But that wasn’t the worst part.

The worst part was that, if that was how Jack felt, he’d more than likely have no qualms about using his abilities on Mac if he stepped out of line.

“Knock, knock,” called an Australian-accented woman’s voice from the hallway.

“This is the men’s room,” Mac called back.

“Nice try,” said the woman. “Are you going to come out so we can talk, or do I need to go in there?”

Mac did a quick sweep of the room, checking for the chemical signatures of human beings, and found two people standing at the urinals and another, not including himself, in the stalls. “Please don’t.”

“Then come on!”

Mac sighed and exited the bathroom.

The blonde woman he’d seen with Jack at the binding ceremony was standing there, looking sympathetic. She was breathing deeply and steadily, and Mac found himself breathing along with her without really thinking about it. “I’m Samantha Cage, you can call me Sam. I work with Jack, and I’m a partial Elemental—Reactive Nonmetals. Would you like to go someplace where we can talk? No Jack, just us.”

“Okay,” said Mac. He didn’t trust Sam—not yet—but following her was better than sitting in the bathroom, and at the very least, she might be able to tell him if Jack was prejudiced against Elementals in general, or if he just had a thing against him, specifically. Besides, something about her presence made him feel calmer.

“So, the woman you were with, is she your Void mage?” asked Mac.

“Which one?” Sam replied.

“Hair to about here?” said Mac, holding his hand by his chin.

“Yep, she’s the one. Her name’s Desi. The woman with her hair in a bun is our boss, Patricia Thornton.”

“And... I’m assuming she’s a Void mage too?”

“That’s right. We mostly track rogue Elementals, so a team of mostly Void mages is helpful. But I come in handy quite a bit, too.”

“So what do you do, mostly?”

“Well, like I said, I’m Reactive Nonmetals—which means a lot of the building blocks of living things are under my control. So I can... tweak levels of hormones, neurotransmitters, those sorts of things, to help smooth interrogations along or diffuse difficult situations. I also have some healing abilities.”

“That... sounds scary.” Mac looked up suddenly. “Hang on, were you using your powers on me just then?”

Sam shook her head immediately. “No, don’t worry. We have a policy on this team—no use of powers on teammates unless it’s an absolute emergency. Really, my abilities are only scary if I don’t like you.” She smiled. “Don’t worry, I think we’re going to get along just fine. And as for Jack...”

She opened a door to a room containing a table, two chairs, and no other people. They walked in, and Sam shut the door behind her.

“He’s not usually like this. Maybe I shouldn’t be telling you this, but... there’s a reason he’s coming down so hard on you.”

“Why?” asked Mac. “If he works with you, I assume he doesn’t have anything against Elementals in general, so... is it me?”

“No, no, not at all,” said Sam. “Years ago, Jack made a promise. A promise to a girl named Riley—his stepdaughter, not legally, but close enough. Riley was an Elemental—partial, Metalloids, amazing with computers. But she was scared of being bonded—a lot like you. So, when she was fifteen, she asked Jack if he would bond with her when the time came, and he promised that he would.”

Mac’s heart sank. Parents bonding with children wasn’t uncommon—usually a temporary setup until a more permanent bondmate could be found for the child, often done if the child was nervous about bonding and happened to have a Void mage parent. But double-bonding was illegal—a Void mage couldn’t be trusted to keep two Elementals in check, the theory went, and there was no sense in having two Void mages for one Elemental. That would just make things complicated. “So what happened?”

“Well, a year later, Riley’s mom and Jack broke up. Riley... went a bit off the rails after that. From what I hear, she was always a mischievous girl, but things got even worse after Jack left. I told you she was Metalloids, and that she was good with computers? Well, long story short, she hacked the NSA, got caught, went to Elemental prison at the age of eighteen. She’s twenty now, still not bonded, obviously, and won’t until she gets out, which isn’t for another five years—but I think Jack still considers himself bound by that promise.”

“Even though he hasn’t seen her in four years?”

“That’s Jack for you.”

“Wow.” Mac wasn’t sure what to make of this new information. On one hand, Jack had still been a jerk to him, and this didn’t seem likely to make him any kinder, or less likely to use his abilities recklessly (although what Sam had said earlier about the team’s policy about magic use on teammates might mean something in that regard—assuming Jack considered him a teammate). On the other... it might mean that Jack didn’t actually hate him. Which would be nice.

“So, just keep in mind. If he snaps at you, or acts unkind... it’s not personal. He’s not seeing you. He’s seeing someone getting in the way of a promise he made to someone he _still_ considers a daughter... which is no fault of yours, and eventually he _will_ see that.”

Mac nodded. “Oh, and by the way?”

“Yes?”

“I go by Mac. Not _Angus.”_ He flinched slightly as he said the word.

Sam smiled. “Do you want to tell the others that, or should I?”

By _the others,_ he knew she meant _Jack._ “I can.” _Have to start somewhere._

“All right. Well, we need to brief you. Clock’s ticking.”

“Oh. Right.” Mac had almost forgotten why he was here.

“I’ll get the others in here. You stay there.”

Mac nodded.

Sam left the room, and Mac put his head in his hands.

He had the feeling that this was just the beginning of a _very_ long day.

...

As soon as Angus was out of sight, Jack started pacing.

Dimly, he heard Desi asking Patty if they needed to brief Angus right away, and Patty telling her to give him a minute. But mostly, he was lost in his thoughts.

He honestly had no idea if he’d made the right call in agreeing to be bonded with this kid. Sure, he hadn’t had _that_ much choice, but it wasn’t like it would’ve been the first time he’d gone against a direct order, and bonding was such a personal thing that he didn’t think Patty would’ve straight-up _forced_ him had he really dug in his heels.

So why hadn’t he?

Partially habit—he’d been military and then USMRD too long to go against orders without a _really_ good reason—but also out of desperation.

They _needed_ to catch The Ghost. He’d killed so many. And Jack respected Patty. If she thought this Elemental could help them do that... he’d back her play however he had to.

But he couldn’t get Angus’s face when they’d bonded out of his mind.

Jack’s chest started to tighten up, and he wondered for a second if he was having a horribly timed heart attack. Or... oh.

“He’s pushing,” Jack muttered between short gasps for air. “The bond. He’s pushing it.”

Immediately, Sam strode out of the room in the direction Angus had gone.

Desi stood close. She wasn’t a demonstrative person, but she knew how to show that she was there.

“Don’t make me do CPR on you _again,_ ” she said.

“None of us... want that,” Jack managed to say as his vision started to sparkle black. _How far is he going to push?_ If they both lost consciousness, Sam finding Angus and physically moving him closer would be the only way to wake them up. If pushed too far, the bond would simply _break—_ with horrifically painful consequences for both parties—but if left in the unconsciousness zone, both bondmates would just... stay out. There were rumors of bondmates, trapped just far enough apart, dying of dehydration. Not that that would be an issue in a public courthouse, but Jack preferred to avoid passing out at all, if he could help it.

Then, the pain and pressure faded. Soon, it was over.

“Are you all right?” asked Patty.

Jack gave a thumbs-up. “All good.”

“Good. Because as soon as Cage gives us the go-ahead, we’re taking MacGyver back to headquarters, briefing him, and then heading out.”

Jack nodded. Then he resumed pacing.

“Oh no you don’t,” said Desi. “Jack, head in the game.”

“My head _is_ in the game.”

“Oh, so that’s why you’re wearing a hole in the floor? Either box it all up or tell me what’s going on so I can do it for you.”

Jack sighed. “If I start talking now, I’ll never stop.”

“Then don’t. But don’t let it all play in your head either. We need you focused.”

Jack nodded. “I know. But I’m still gonna pace, okay? Do not interrupt the pacing.”

Jack could _feel_ Angus’s powers in the back of his mind, a constant presence, like a new sense. For some reason, it bothered him to think how easily he could just reach out and shut them off.

Jack continued to pace until Sam walked in. “He’s ready.”

...

Mac sat in the room and waited.

When Sam came back, she was accompanied by Jack and the two women she’d mentioned earlier—Desi and Patricia Thornton. “Hello, MacGyver,” said Thornton. “My name is Patricia Thornton. I’m the Director of the United States Magic Regulation Department, and these are some of the agents of the Phoenix branch of the USMRD. Welcome to the team. We’ve brought you here because, quite simply, we need help and believe you’re the person best suited to provide it. We’re going to take you back to headquarters now and brief you. Before we go, do you have any immediate questions for us?”

Mac had _so_ many questions. _Where will I live? Will I still get to see Bozer? Who exactly are you people, and why do you need me? What’s my job going to look like? Does Jack really hate me?_

Instead of asking any or all of those questions, he said, “I’ll wait until you’ve briefed me, ma’am.”

Director Thornton nodded. “Dalton, Nguyen, Cage, I’ll meet you back at headquarters. MacGyver, go with them. I’ll see you all in the briefing room.”

With that, she left.

“All right,” said Jack, “Rock-paper-scissors for front seat privileges?”

Sam and Desi smirked in unison.

_This is going to be an interesting trip..._


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everybody! This chapter contains an explosion, a prison, and a past punishment designed to humiliate and instill a sense of hopelessness in a school setting. Hope you enjoy!

When they got to the briefing room, Mac watched as Jack settled into his place by the wall. Sam and Desi each settled into their respective places as well. Mac hesitated for a moment as he tried to figure out where to stand, eventually positioning himself at the edge of the room, closest to Sam, but not particularly close to anyone. He hoped he wasn’t offending Jack, but based on the way he’d been talking earlier, Mac had a feeling Jack would just as soon he stayed far away.

“MacGyver, can you hear me from there?” asked Director Thornton.

“Yes, ma’am,” Mac responded. 

“Good. Now. You are now a part of the Phoenix branch of the United States Magic Regulation Department. We have four branches, spread throughout the country—Merrow, Sphinx, Griffin, and Phoenix. Our mission is to fight fire with fire—neutralize rogue mages by giving the country’s best mages a framework within which they can do what they need to do. Our current mission: this individual.”

She tapped her tablet, and the projector screen at the front of the room showed a series of news articles. From what Mac could see, they were about bombings.

“If you’re wondering why there’s no picture, it’s because we don’t have one. The man we call The Ghost has never been photographed, never been described to a sketch artist. He’s a shadow.”

“So what do we know?” asked Mac.

“He likes to mix techniques,” said Sam. “Initial build looks sloppy, then the explosive itself is incredibly sophisticated.”

“He also likes to watch,” said Jack. “There’s usually part of a camera in the rubble. We’ve never been able to trace it.” Was Mac imagining Jack’s slight glare at Director Thornton at those words?

“And there’s the secondary devices,” said Desi. “He never uses just one bomb. From what we can tell, he uses multiple devices as a failsafe.”

“Okay,” said Mac, nodding slowly. “Where does he usually operate?”

“Anywhere there’s a high demand for bombs. Mostly the Middle East, at the moment, but all around the world.”

“So what makes this USMRD jurisdiction?” Then Mac realized that he might be overstepping, it being his first day and all. “Sorry, I’m just trying to understand.”

Director Thornton shook her head. “No, you’re right to ask. It’s USMRD jurisdiction because The Ghost’s bombs have blown up a number of United States military installations. The U.S. Army called us in to help once they realized The Ghost was probably an Elemental.”

“How did they figure that out?”

“It was the opinion of their experts that some of the components in the bombs found could not have been put together by a non-mage without a premature explosion.”

Mac nodded. “How long have you been chasing The Ghost?”

“He goes dormant sometimes, but on and off for... five years now.”

“So why am I here now?”

“You’re here because we just got a new lead.”

“What is it?”

“The FBI’s bomb analytics division just found a bomb near UN headquarters. Their best analyst took one look, requested our presence. Said he was probably, quote, ‘jumping at shadows,’ but that he needed us to tell him he was wrong,”

“So... he thinks The Ghost planted a bomb near the UN. Why?”

“Peace talks are set to commence in twenty-four hours,” said Director Thornton.

“The Ghost doesn’t have a cause or an ideology,” said Desi. “He builds bombs for money.”

“The new peace treaty means dozens of countries laying down arms,” said Sam. “It means fewer jobs for a bomb maker who travels the world selling his expertise to anyone who will pay.”

“If he succeeds in disrupting the talks with violence, The Ghost could set the talks back years,” said Director Thornton.

“Which gives him free reign to keep profiting off war,” said Mac. “Got it. So where do I come in?”

“We believe The Ghost is a full Elemental,” said Director Thornton. “We’ve never chased one at this level of skill before. Actually, we’ve never chased one before, at all. Two of our sister branches have, but we were on this case for a few months before we determined that The Ghost was likely a full Elemental, so they gave us all their files and we kept the case, but...” she sighed. “It’s not enough. Frankly, I don’t think Griffin or Merrow would be having a much easier time with this. Monstrous as he is, The Ghost is clearly a genius. Which is why we need someone who has his powers and his mental capacity.” She looked Mac directly in the eye. “It’s why we need you.”

“I... thank you, ma’am.”

“You packed a bag according to the instructions we sent?”

“Yes, ma’am.” Mac held up his duffel bag, which he’d set down in the corner of the room.

“Good. You’re wheels up in twenty.”

...

Jack was sitting on the plane, lost in thought, when Angus tapped him on the shoulder.

“Hey,” he said. “May I sit here?” He gestured to the seat in front of Jack.

“Go for it,” said Jack. “You’re part of this team now.”  _ For better or worse. _

Angus must have read that last part on his face, because he winced slightly and started to move away. Then, he seemed to steel himself and sat down anyway. “I just wanted to say... I’m sorry I ran away. After the bonding. And I’m sorry I snapped at you beforehand. I’m probably not giving you a very favorable impression of me—”

Jack snorted. “I’m the one who insulted you to your face. You don’t have to apologize.”

Angus sighed. “Sam told me about Riley.”

“She did?” Jack exhaled through his teeth. “Well, I s’pose you were gonna find out eventually. But it’s not just Riley, you know.”

Angus tilted his head. “What is it, then?”

“We’ve been chasing this guy for five years. Five. Years. And Patty seems to think you’re the answer. Now, if that turns out to be true, I’ll be thrilled. But honestly? So far I’m not seeing it. Now, I know this isn’t your fault. But if you’re not ready for this you could get a whole lot of people killed, kid. And I don’t think you’re ready.”

Jack knew the words were cruel, he was just too emotionally worn out to care. He’d expected a flinch, some yelling, maybe even tears.

What he didn’t expect was for Angus to look him in the eye and say, “I’m ready.”

“Good. Then prove it.”

“I will.”

...

When Mac arrived at the room where the bomb was being kept, he was greeted by a man in a bulky green suit.

“Charlie Robinson,” said the man, extending his hand to shake. “Call me Charlie.”

“I’m MacGyver. Call me Mac.” Mac’s teammates were hanging back, discussing the situation with the man who appeared to be in charge of the facility.

“Good to meet you, Mac. You the full Elemental they sent to check this thing out?”

“That’s me, yeah. Are you an Elemental?”

Charlie smiled. “Nothing magical about me. Just steady hands and a lot of practice. That’s what you’re here for. What’s your range?”

“Depends what I’m doing. For a scan like this, seventy feet or so?”

Charlie whistled. “Well then, stay back and be my guest. Bomb’s on the table.” He pointed.

Mac shut his eyes and mentally reached out towards the bomb. He felt the outer layers— _ (carbon, hydrogen—polyethylene), _ the inner— _ wait. _

_ (Silicon, oxygen—quartz.) _

_ (Indium, gallium, nitrogen—LED lights.) _

“Is the timing device still in there?” asked Mac.

“Timing device?” asked Charlie.

Mac froze. “Everyone out,” he said. “Get everyone out of the building, NOW!”

“Well, you heard him!” Charlie shouted at the nearest people. “Start evacuation!”

Meanwhile, Mac was running up to the bomb and had scooped it up.

“Whoa, what are you doing?” asked Charlie.

“Give me your suit,” Mac muttered.

Charlie sighed, removing the top half of his suit. “Won’t do me any good anyway if this thing goes off.” He handed the suit to Mac, who wrapped the bomb in it as they ran outside.

Mac didn’t know that much about the technicalities of explosives, but he knew physics. He knew that this bomb was about to go off, sending superheated air and shrapnel flying with a great deal of force, and that the only way to keep everyone safe was to redirect that force.

He looked around.

Manhole cover. Perfect.

Mac dropped the bomb on the manhole cover, hoping frantically that there weren’t any workers in the area today, and backed up.

“Get to cover,” he told Charlie, who was next to him.

“Man, if you’re—”

“We don’t have time to argue and I need to focus, get to cover!”

Charlie retreated, and Mac ran for a Dumpster that was nearby, pulled it over, and upended it over the bomb. (He could have done it with his powers, but with something as big as a Dumpster that had wheels, it was faster to do it by hand.)

It wouldn’t be enough. He knew it wouldn’t be enough. What else was there... of course.

Using his powers might be slower than dragging a Dumpster, but it was faster than carjacking. Concentrating fiercely, Mac started a nearby car and steered it over to the dumpster, then dove for cover.

For a moment, time seemed to hang suspended.

Then, a blast of heat and light and noise. Mac curled up tighter, shutting his eyes and waiting for it to be over.

Finally, it was.

Mac uncurled and stood up. Nearby, he saw Charlie doing the same.

“That would have killed every agent in the building,” Charlie muttered.

“I’m thinking that was the idea,” said Jack, arriving with Desi and Cage. “Trick the FBI into bringing the bomb inside, get as many agents and experts around it as possible, and then you know what.”

“So I’m not crazy,” said Charlie.

“No,” said Sam. “This is definitely The Ghost.”

“Well then,” said Desi, “let’s get to work.”

...

Jack picked up the phone, took a deep breath, and called Patty.

“Hey,” he said.

“What is it, Dalton?” she asked.

“Techs on scene found pieces of a SIM card in the rubble. It’s only three digits, but it’d be enough for her, I  _ know _ it’d be—”

Patty sighed. “We’ve been over this. Springing Riley Davis from prison is an unacceptable risk—”

“No, letting The Ghost keep running around scot free is an ‘unacceptable risk’—”

“And besides,  _ even if _ I agreed with you and thought getting Riley conditional release was the right move—which, at this point, I might—you’re bonded now. You can’t double-bond, and I’m not taking on another unknown factor just to bond with her.”

“You could call the Chief Director.”

“The Chief Director can’t just—”

“The Chief Director can move  _ Christmas, _ Patty, c’mon! You  _ know _ you could make this happen—and you know this is our only shot at The Ghost.” Jack paused. “I’m not just saying this because of Riley. I’m saying this because of everyone The Ghost hasn’t hurt yet and will, and everyone he’s already hurt. This is our best shot, you  _ know _ this is our best shot. C’mon.”

Patty sighed again. “I’ll call the Chief Director. No guarantees.”

Ten minutes later, Patty called back. “You have special dispensation to bond with Riley Davis in addition to your existing bond with Angus MacGyver, and Riley will receive full conditional release so long as she continues to aid the USMRD in our duties—conditional on her saying yes, of course.”

“Thank you, thank you so much.”

“I didn’t do this for you,” said Patty. “I did this because you’re right, this is our best shot at The Ghost, and at stopping who knows how many deaths. So Riley’d better be as good as you say she is.”

“Oh, trust me,” said Jack, “she’s better.”

...

Mac felt his heart rate speed up as they approached the prison.

They needed to go in. He knew that. He knew Jack was the person who needed to talk to Riley, and that he couldn’t, physically couldn’t, stay outside while Jack went in.

That didn’t make the prospect of entering a place where Elemental magic didn’t work any easier to handle.

They walked in, and Mac barely suppressed a gasp as he felt his power leave him.

The ordinary feel of the world—his sense of what made up everything, of how things fit together, of the building blocks of everything he could see or hear or smell or touch—was gone. He felt like someone had turned out all the lights and left him completely in the dark.

_ “Sort the beads.” _

_ Mr. Maier was standing over him, suppressing his power. He’d been showing Penny that Noble Gases could be a perfectly useful branch of magic, by demonstrating how they could be used to delay chemical reactions. Only after he saw the hole he’d made in the wall had it occurred to him that maybe he should have chosen a reaction that was a little less... reactive. _

_ Next to him, Penny was likewise struggling. He’d told her to run when he saw the damage, but she’d insisted on staying and getting in trouble with him, since he’d only been trying to help her. It was sweet, really. A pity they’d probably be separated after this. _

_ Mac tried to sort the high-carbon steel from the low-carbon, he really did. But the beads were tiny spheres, there weren’t many tests he could do, and without his power... _

_ It was useless. He was useless. _

“Hey, Mac, you with us?” asked Jack as they rounded the corner towards the room that presently contained Riley.

“Yeah,” said Mac, trying to project calm. He knew he’d disappointed Jack by seeming afraid at their bonding. He couldn’t do that again. He had to prove he could handle this.

When they got to the room, Riley was sitting at the table, in cuffs, looking bored.

Mac, Sam, Desi and Director Thornton took up places on the other side of the one-way mirror.

When Riley saw Jack, her expression went from bored to shocked to disgusted in the space of about point-five seconds.

“What are  _ you _ doing here?” she asked.

Jack pulled a chair out from the table, swung it around, and straddled the back. “I’m here to help you, and to ask for your help.”

Riley looked at him sideways. “My help with what?”

“There’s a bomber on the loose. He’s killed hundreds already and he’s going to kill more. He puts cameras in his bombs, and we found part of a SIM card in the wreckage of one that just went off. We think it’s enough for you to trace—but I don’t know of anyone else who could.”

“Who’s ‘we’?”

“My team,” said Jack, and Riley glanced at the mirror. “I still work for the USMRD. This bomber? I’ve been chasing him since before your mom and I split.”

“And you haven’t come to me before now... because?”

“This is the first time we’ve had solid enough intelligence. So, can you help us?”

“Is there anything you want to say to me?”

“You help us out, you won’t have to spend another day in this place.”

“That’s not what I meant,” Riley snapped, although Mac saw interest flash in her eyes before she quickly got it under control. “I don’t care what carrots you dangle in front of me, it doesn’t fix anything. And besides, there’s a problem. I’m not bonded. I can’t work.”

Jack looked Riley in the eye. “Ri... I’m also here to keep my promise.”

Riley sat back. “Are you insane? You think I’d want to bond with you? After what you did?”

“So you do remember.”

“That’s not fair—”

“Let me talk to her,” said Mac to Director Thornton.

“Are you sure?”

“I’m sure.”

“Alone or with Dalton?”

“Alone.”

“All right.” She spoke into her comm. “Dalton, get back out here. I’m sending MacGyver in.”

“Riley, there’s something else you need to know,” said Jack. “They made me bond with someone else. But I never wanted to, alright? He’s coming in to talk to you. I’ll be back.”

“I can’t believe you,” said Riley, shaking her head, an edge of something like hurt in her voice.

Jack stood and left, and Mac walked in.

“Hey,” said Mac. “I’m MacGyver. I don’t know exactly what’s going on between you two, but I can tell you this much—if you don’t help us, a lot of people are going to die.” He put his hands on Riley’s. “Hey. I’m sorry if I took your place or anything like that—”

“I didn’t want—”

“And I’m sorry you got hurt. But it’s not time for that right now. Right now it’s time to do the right thing.” Mac knew his next words were a risk, but they were a risk he had to take. “So, you can spend the next five years in a five-by-six hole wishing you had said yes, or you can do the right thing now and thank me later.” Mac took his hands away, and Riley stared at her own hands, newly uncuffed. Mac smiled and held up a bent paperclip. “So what’s it gonna be?”

Riley took a deep breath. “I’m in.”


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! This chapter contains discussions of a past abusive school situation and the threat of imminent death. Hope you enjoy!

Jack sat in the driver’s seat, hands on the steering wheel, and fervently prayed that this horrifically awkward mess of a car ride would end soon.

They drove in silence, punctuated by Riley’s terse directions as they approached the location to which the SIM card had been broadcasting. Riley periodically shot dirty looks at Jack, which he observed in the rearview mirror. Angus was fidgeting in his seat, obviously bothered by the tension in the air.

Finally, Riley said, “Pull over. We’re here.”

They made their way through the halls of the crumbling apartment building to the door Riley indicated. Jack was preparing to kick it in when he was stopped by Angus’s hand on his arm.

“He’s a bomb maker,” Angus hissed. “Trip wires. Let me check.” Angus closed his eyes for a second, then nodded sharply. “All clear. And he’s in there, he’s right there—he’s moving, must’ve sensed us!”

Jack stepped back and kicked the door as hard as he could, to no effect.

“The door’s reinforced, let’s both,” said Angus.

They kicked together, and the door opened.

Jack immediately cleared the apartment. “It’s all clear,” he reported.

“He’s gone,” said Angus, with his head out the window.

“Jack, look,” said Riley, indicating a television playing a news broadcast of the UN peace talks.

“If he was trying to disrupt these peace talks, he failed miserably, I'll tell you that much.” said Jack. “Hey, Riley, Angus, come take a look at this.”

Angus hesitated, opened his mouth as though he was going to say something, and then came over. Riley came over as well.

A laptop computer was playing video of Charlie Robinson in a bomb suit, examining the bomb.

“Well, we know we’re in the right place,” said Riley.

Meanwhile, Angus was looking more and more uneasy. “Guys?” he said. “We need to get out of here. Now.”

“Okay,” said Riley, “but I need to take the computer—”

“The computer is the problem,” said Angus. “You smell that? That’s plastic explosive. The computer’s stuffed with it. We need to go,  _ now.” _

Jack nodded. “You don’t have to tell me twice—wait, Riley, what are you doing?” Riley had a flashdrive in her hand and was standing by the computer.

She turned to Angus. “If I plug in, will it blow?”

“No. It’s not connected to the CPU. But, Riley, this thing is not just rigged to blow up the computer, it's gonna blow up the whole room.”

“Let's get out of here,” Jack insisted.

“Can you stop it from doing that?” asked Riley.

Angus shut his eyes, then smiled. “Yes. I think. We need to get out to the street, fast.”

They ran down the stairs, Angus carrying both computers. When they got to the street, Angus pointed at an approaching garbage truck. “Jack, stop that truck,” he said.

“Why—”

“If you want Riley to live, just do it!”

Jack shook his head. “You’d better be right about this.” Then, he ran out in front of the truck. “Hey, buddy! I need you to stop that stinky thing!” The truck kept coming closer. “I said stop!” The truck was almost on top of him. “STOP!” Jack squeezed his eyes shut, hoping he wasn’t about to die by being run over by a garbage truck in Queens.

A moment later, he wasn’t dead, so he opened his eyes. The driver was yelling at him, so Jack played along and distracted him from whatever the kid was doing. He didn’t look—that would draw the driver’s attention to Angus. So he was completely in the dark. Jack yelled, and prayed his yelling wouldn’t be interrupted by a loud boom and the feeling of losing a bondmate. Jack had never been bonded before, so he wouldn’t know what that felt like. Jack sincerely hoped he’d never find out.

_ Please don’t let her die today. Please. _

Gradually, Jack realized it had been a while, and he hadn’t heard any explosions.

“So sorry about the misunderstanding,” he said to the driver of the truck. “I’ll get out of your way.”

The driver mumbled some curses at him, got back in his truck, and drove on.

Jack ran back to where Riley and Angus were standing by the very not-exploded computer.

“Is it safe now?” asked Jack.

“Yeah,” said Angus. “Turns out plastic explosive is made with gasoline, so I thought adding diesel fuel might dissolve it enough to let me—”

“Hang on, you made a bomb less bomb-like by adding diesel?”

“Uh... yeah.”

Jack smiled. “That’s a good one. I’ll have to remember that.”

Riley held up her flashdrive. “The Ghost’s hard drive is fully downloaded.”

“Awesome,” said Jack. “Let’s go see what we’ve found.”

...

What they’d found was a seemingly endless series of videos—labeled by date and name—of people getting blown up. When he realized he wasn’t going to be much use in the apartment, Mac went out into the hall to check on Riley as she dug through The Ghost’s financials.

He sat down next to her. Jack and Cage walked by, to the end of the hall and out of sight. “How’s it going?”

“It’s going okay. This stuff is crazy complicated—not to mention just plain crazy.” Riley looked at Mac curiously. “Do you go by Angus? I’ve noticed you seem uncomfortable when Jack says your name.”

“I go by Mac,” said Mac after a moment, “but Jack doesn’t know. Don’t tell him; I want to tell him myself.”

“Okay,” said Riley slowly. “I won’t tell him, but you should sooner rather than later. It’s a silly thing to hide, and a silly reason to be uncomfortable.” She looked off into space for a moment. “And I think we both have plenty of those already.”

Mac smiled sadly. “Fair.” He exhaled quickly. “What’s the deal with you and him, anyway?”

“Well, you know he dated my mom,” said Riley. “What you don’t know is that my dad was an absolute dick. When I was sixteen, he came back and started hurting my mom. Jack came in and beat the crap out of him, which he totally deserved, by the way, and I saw. And Jack freaked out and thought I’d be mad at him, I guess? But then...” Riley’s face clouded. “He  _ left. _ He just... left us. And I never saw him again.” Riley sighed. “He was my real dad, you know. Closest thing I ever had. And he  _ left.” _

“I’m sorry,” said Mac. “Does he know that’s why you’re mad?”

Riley shrugged. “Don’t know. Don’t care.”

“Well, this is just me, but I think that’s an important thing to clear up.”

“Maybe.” Riley looked at Mac. “What about you? What’s your problem with him?”

“It’s less my problem with him, more his problem with me,” said Mac. “He thinks I’m not ready for the field. I’m trying to prove him wrong, but...”

Riley made a soft noise of sympathy.

“And, okay, it is a  _ little _ my problem with him. But less him, personally, and more what he can do. The  _ reason _ he thinks I’m not field-ready is because I was scared at our bonding ceremony. I just...” Mac trailed off. “I’ve never  _ not _ had my powers, except when I was being punished at school, and now I have to live and work 24/7 with someone who could take them away without blinking. I just... they’re what make me  _ me, _ y’know? Without them, I’m...” Mac stared out into space, unable to find the words he wanted.

“Hey,” said Riley. “I used to think like that, too. Then I spent two years in an Elemental prison, with no access to tech. The things you think make you you? You can survive without them. You’re still  _ something. _ You’re still human, no matter what anyone tries to tell you.”

Mac smiled faintly. “Thanks. I don’t know how you did it.”

“Honestly? Me either.”

...

When Sam motioned for Jack to follow her out of the room, he had no idea what was going on.

They passed Angus and Riley in the hallway, then kept walking until they were out of earshot of anyone else, stopping just before Jack would’ve had to start pushing his bonds—especially the one with Angus, which had him on an even shorter leash than Riley’s.

“Jack,” said Sam. “There’s something you need to know, and you need to hear it from me.”

Jack was fairly certain a conversation that started that way had about a zero percent chance of going well. “Okay, what?”

“It’s about Angus and Riley. Specifically, it’s about the Academies. Those places aren’t what you think.”

A chill ran through Jack. “Okay, so what are they?”

“The one I went to was in Australia, so I don’t know for certain that this is true, but from the rogue Elementals I’ve flipped and talked to, I think it’s the same. Those places aren’t just designed to teach you. They are designed to  _ crush _ you. They are designed to shape you into a tool to be used by whoever happens to pick you up and never once complain.”

Jack felt sick. “How... what...”

Sam smiled slightly. “I’ll tell you this much—when I first bonded with Desi, I tried to call her  _ ma’am. _ She shut that one down fast.”

“I bet,” said Jack, feeling like the world was tilting on its axis.

“But it’s more than titles. Someone like Angus has probably had it drilled into him since he was a child that his entire worth depends on his magic, on what he can do and how useful he can be. Different people react to that in different ways. Angus wants to help because that’s his nature, but he’s also chafing at it. And he’s afraid of you because you have the power to take it all away.”

“Jesus,” whispered Jack.

“As for Riley, she’s had to realize that she can survive without magic—she’s spent two years without it—but she’s understandably terrified of going back to prison, which is going to lead her to distrust you, since you’ve let her down before.”

Jack shut his eyes and bowed his head. It was true, he  _ had _ let Riley down. He wanted so badly to prove that he wouldn’t do it again, but how...

“Stick around,” said Sam. “Be there for both of them, and do not, for any reason, use your power on either of them unless you have absolutely no choice.”

Jack shook his head. Sam really was a mind reader sometimes.

“I’m not reading your mind, just making inferences from the content of the conversation and the general tone of your emotions,” said Sam.

“Okay, that’s scary.”

“You’re welcome. Now go check on your bondmates, I have a feeling Riley just figured something out.”

Jack walked up to where Riley and Angus were sitting. “How’s it going over here?” he asked.

Riley and Angus looked at each other. “Riley’s got something,” said Angus.

“Okay, so it looks like this guy also kept financial records on his laptop. It's a tangle of shell and holding companies. Very confusing stuff,” said Riley.

“Which probably means you found something, right?” said Jack.

“I did,” said Riley. “The same shell company that pays the rent for this apartment, they also own a warehouse in Queens.”

“Let’s go,” said Jack.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone! This chapter contains more imminent death and actual death (no one we know). Hope you enjoy!

Standing near the ruins of the exploded warehouse, Mac heard footsteps.

He turned around to see Charlie approaching. “Hey.”

“Hey,” said Charlie. “What happened here?”

“We got here, and we were just about to go in, but I sensed a compound I wasn’t familiar with, and from the structure I could tell it was extremely unstable. So we took cover, and the place blew.”

Charlie nodded. “From the smell, it was probably triacetone triperoxide, TATP. AKA the Mother of Satan.”

“That sounds right,” said Mac. “One more thing.”

“What?” asked Jack, who was standing nearby with Sam and Desi.

“There was someone in there.”

“Well, they’re definitely dead. I mean, doornail dead,” said Jack. “If that was The Ghost, then we’ve got nothing to worry about anymore, do we?”

“Wait,” said Mac. Something about this was bothering him. He shut his eyes and tried to think back.

He’d sensed the person around the same time as he’d sensed the TATP. Naturally, the latter had drawn his attention, but...

_ (Calcium, potassium...) _

“They were already dead,” said Mac, opening his eyes. “The person in the warehouse, they were already dead.”

“Are you sure?” Desi asked.

“No,” said Mac. “I was kind of focused on what could kill us immediately. But... it’s what I remember.”

“If you say the person in the warehouse was already dead when it blew, I believe you,” said Sam. “Which means the peace talks are still in danger.”

“All right,” said Jack. “Can’t hurt to be sure.”

...

“Anything?” asked Jack, looking around.

“Nothing but cops, bomb techs and nerdy-looking diplomats,” Riley replied.

“There’s got to be something we missed,” said Sam. “Riley, can you pull up a live satellite image of the area?”

“Sure thing,” said Riley, pulling up the image on her laptop.

“There,” said Sam. “An NYPD mobile HQ just pulled up on the far side of that building.”

“There's nothing unusual about that,” said Patty, frowning.

“One? No,” said Desi. “Two? Yes. That second truck is him.”

Jack, Riley, Angus, Patty, Desi and Sam all ran over to the second truck, and a man in a police uniform got out of the front and started moving around to the back. “Keep your eyes on that cop,” said Desi. “That’s him.”

As they got closer, the man saw them and disappeared into the truck. Jack flung the door open and jumped inside.

A click sounded.

_ Shit. _

“Did that just click?” asked Jack, voice shaking.

“Do not. Move,” said Desi fiercely.

Jack dimly heard Patty calling for an APB on a vehicle, but his mind was taken up by two thoughts:

_ I’m gonna die. _

_ Riley’s gonna lose her bondmate. _

He knew Riley didn’t like him very much, but he also knew that losing a bondmate  _ hurt, _ no matter how you felt about them. He didn’t want Riley going through that. Come to think of it, he didn’t want Angus going through that, either. It was one of the reasons he’d always stayed unbonded—he knew his life was dangerous, and didn’t want to risk subjecting anyone to that pain unless they were aware of the risks and wanted to bond with him anyway.

_ Riley’s gonna lose her bondmate. _

_ I’m gonna die. _

Jack knew perfectly well what had happened. He knew his body weight had activated the detonator under the pressure plate when he’d  _ stupidly _ stepped on it... speaking of which, why hadn’t Angus stopped him?

He looked around. He couldn’t see Angus anywhere.

“Where’s Angus?” he asked.

“Over there,” said Sam, pointing. “He didn’t come over here with us. There’s something in this truck imbued with Void magic.”

“Great,” said Jack, in a pitch distinctly above his normal register. “Where’s that bomb nerd when you need him?”

“I’m right here,” said Charlie, who’d just been called to the truck by Desi. “And I’m gonna get you out of this.”

“I might be able to help with that,” said Angus.

“I thought...” Jack stared at Angus. He  _ knew _ how scared the kid was of having his power taken away, and here he was, deliberately walking into a situation that not only would take away his power but could easily kill him, just to help Jack.

“Turns out The Ghost’s Void magic device is set for a radius smaller than mine. It only works to about fifty feet. And it doesn’t stop me from using my powers on things in the truck if I’m outside that radius—it only stops me from using my powers if I’m physically within its zone of influence. Unfortunately, the radius is small enough that I could get a passive read on the truck when I was back there, but too big for me to  _ do _ anything.” Angus took a breath. “It’s a memory game. I’m good at those.”

“Okay,” said Jack. “So what did you see?”

“The bomb under you is wired up to another one in the vent,” said Angus. “The explosive is over here—Charlie?”

Charlie and Angus disappeared for a moment. When they came back, Charlie looked grimmer.

“It’s enough to take out a city block,” he said.

“From the way The Ghost operates,” said Sam, “we know defusing the more obvious bomb will set off the other. We need to defuse the vent bomb first. Charlie, any ideas on how to do that?”

“I need to get a look at it first,” said Charlie. “Jack, can you unscrew the vents?” Charlie took a Swiss army knife out of his pocket and passed it to Jack, who pivoted to face the vent, only to hear his teammates’ frightened shouts.

“Slowly,” said Desi.

“Wait,” said Jack. “I think the rest of you better get back. Like, way back.”

“We’re not leaving you,” said Sam.

Desi sighed. “Yeah, I’m with her.”

“I’m staying,” said Angus. “I might not be able to use my powers, but I can still be helpful.”

Jack sighed. “Fine. But Riley? You have to get back. As far as you can, even if it hurts. Go with Patty. If this goes wrong—they’re gonna need to rebuild the Phoenix branch, and they sure could use you.”

Slowly, Riley nodded. “Don’t die. I’m not done deciding how mad I am at you.”

“I’ll do my best. And—if something does go wrong—I want you to have my Shelby Cobra.”

Riley gave a tense half-laugh. Then, Patty put a hand on her shoulder, and they walked away.

When they were a good three hundred feet away, Jack started to unscrew the vent. Charlie looked at it and nodded.

“Okay,” he said. “It’s a bolt fuze. The bolt needs to be removed to defuse the vent bomb. But it needs to be taken out straight; otherwise...”

“Kaboom?” said Jack.

“Kaboom,” Charlie confirmed.

“Hey,” said Jack weakly, “it's like that old game Operation.”

“Exactly like Operation,” mused Angus. “Which is why your shaking hand is not touching that thing.”

“I could help with that,” said Sam.

Angus shook his head. “No, still too risky. I think there’s a better way. Give me a moment—and could I borrow that?” He gestured to the Swiss army knife. “I’m also gonna need...” He looked around, then dashed off, muttering to himself.

Jack took a moment to pray that the kid’s madcap idea, whatever it was, was going to work.

Soon enough, Angus was back with a plastic crate full of stuff, including a roll of tape, a rope, and some wheels that looked to have been snatched from a vendor’s cart. “Okay, Jack,” said Angus calmly. “You're gonna be my hands in there.”

“All right,” said Jack.

Angus handed Jack the Swiss army knife, with the wrench attachment out and a piece of tape that had been folded in half attached to it, then to a rope. “I need you to wrap the tape around the fuze, counterclockwise,” he said. “Then you're gonna take the wrench and slide it onto the fuze. Do  _ not _ lift your foot off that pressure plate.”

Jack nodded. “Okay.” He did as instructed, then watched as Angus set up some sort of elaborate pulley system with the rope and the wheels.

“Perfect. I’m gonna need a little distance to make this work. Don’t worry, I’m coming back for you. I’m gonna get you out of this.”

Jack took a deep breath. He’d been so wrong about Angus’s field-readiness, and beyond that, he’d been a dick to him when he’d done nothing to deserve it.

He couldn’t let them both die with that unaddressed.

And on the off-chance Angus survived and he didn’t...

“Hey, Angus?” he said. “Whatever happens here, it wasn’t your fault. It was never your fault, none of this was, and I am so sorry, I should’ve seen that—”

“Hey,” said Angus. “Save it. We’re gonna live. Talk after.”

“Okay,” said Jack. “After.”

Angus nodded at him, then backed up and started pulling on the rope attached to the knife.

Jack held his breath. He could almost feel Sam and Desi doing the same.

Slowly, the bolt fuze came out of the wall, then fell to the floor with a clatter.

Jack felt his whole body relax.

“Wait!” said Charlie. “You gotta stay still a little longer while I cut those wires.”

Jack waited as Charlie snipped the pressure plate wires.

“All right,” said Charlie, “it’s safe.”

Jack stepped off the plate.

Nothing happened.

Everyone on the team started breathing again.

Patty and Riley came running up. “Are you all right?” asked Patty.

“Yeah,” said Jack. “Thanks to Charlie and Angus here.”

Angus, who had also come running, stopped and sat down next to Jack, a wild, faraway look in his eyes.

Jack held out his fist in a fistbump gesture.

Angus stared at it.

Jack looked at him. “C’mon.”

Angus returned the gesture.

“We make a good team, huh?” said Jack.

“Yeah, I guess we do,” said Angus. “And by the way?”

“Yeah?”

“I go by Mac.”

...

Mac sat in the car with Jack and worried.

The mission wasn’t over. The Ghost had gotten away, and they’d lost their chance to catch him. They’d tried to follow up, but the trail had gone cold.

Still. Director Thornton had decided that, since they weren’t likely to catch The Ghost anytime soon, she might as well give them a bit of time off to adjust to their new situation.

The first thing Riley had done, when that announcement came in, was call her mom.

Hence, they were now sitting outside Diane Davis’s house as Riley visited her mother. And Mac was worrying.

He still didn’t know where he was going to end up living.

“Hey Mac?” said Jack.

“Yeah?”

“It’s after.”

Mac took a breath. “Yeah, it is.”

“So I just wanna say, I’m sorry I treated you like crap. And I’m sorry I doubted you. You were amazing out there. I wouldn’t be alive if it wasn’t for you.”

Mac looked down. “It’s okay,” he said. “You had reasons not to trust me right away.”

“Yeah, well, I should’ve seen past that.” Jack sighed. “And I’m sorry I bonded with you in the first place when you obviously didn’t want to.”

Mac looked up, startled. “That’s okay. Really.” He paused. “I’m glad it was you. If you hadn’t done that, if you’d disobeyed orders and not bonded with me, I would’ve gone back to the Academy for another month and then bonded with someone else, who probably would’ve been a lot worse. So it’s okay.”

“Well, that  _ sucks.” _

Mac laughed a little. “Yeah, it kinda does.”

“So, are we good?”

“We’re good.”

They sat in silence for a while after that, until Jack spoke up again.

“Y’know, Mac, I’ve been thinking,” he said.

“About what?” asked Mac, trying not to let how nervous that sentence made him show in his face or voice.

“There’s just not room in my apartment for me  _ and _ you  _ and _ Riley. Might have to get some new digs.”

Mac smiled. “Actually, I think I can help with that.”

“Oh? How?”

“When I was in the Academy, my grandpa had a house in L.A. that I stayed in with him over breaks, until he died at least. Then I stayed there with my best friend Bozer, who lives there the rest of the time. Mortgage is paid off and everything. It’s a big house, it could totally fit all of us and Bozer—I’m not kicking him out, but he’s really cool, I think you’ll like him. It might not have enough bedrooms right now, but I’m sure I could convert another room into a bedroom, fire egress might be a problem but I’m sure I could fix that...”

“Sounds perfect,” said Jack. “When Riley gets back, you wanna ask her about it?”

“Sure thing,” said Mac, smiling. This was exactly what he’d barely dared to hope for.

Yeah. This was gonna work out just fine.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, that's the end of part 1 of this 'verse. After some thought, I've decided to make Part 2 its own fic. As such, I've changed the tags on this one. I'll get working on Part 2 right away, and the first chapter should be up soon. As always, though, no promises. Thank you so much to everyone who read, commented, and/or left kudos. Best!

**Author's Note:**

> Hello again! Hope you enjoyed! If you did, please let me know below!


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